[gymnastau]

Hello,

I was accepted to a Western Michigan grad program as well as another university that is in a major city. I'm currently leaning towards Western Michigan but am trying to learn more about living in Kalamazoo.

I am a non-traditional student in that I am in my 30's and I would not mind being a bit away from the center of student off-campus housing. I'd like to get a 1 bedroom or studio apartment, and would love if there was a coffee shop nearby in walking distance or a short drive. I've lived in major cities and rural areas, I'm not picky and adapt easily to new places. So I am open to ideas.

I haven't yet been up to explore the area, but plan on doing so soon. What areas should I look at for renting? I'd like to stay under $700 if possible.
I know to avoid north of downtown and such. My preliminary research had me leaning towards just south of the Oakland campus area where my program will be.
Any input would be helpful! Thanks

[notdeconcentrate]

Not sure if you've already decided, but I lived at Western's Stadium Drive apartments at Stadium & Howard for awhile. They are across the street from Main Campus, and more non-traditional and international students were there when I lived there. The link only shows 2 bedroom prices (still under your range), but I lived in a 1 bedroom for $500 (unfurnished and included utilities). They were going to tear them down, but I'm not sure what happened...there's a phone # at the link.

I would also check Craigslist apartment listings. There are also a number of property management companies that have listings--just google it.

I also lived at 3 other places while I lived in Kalamazoo, and one thing I always appreciated was that every one of them was on a bus route, and being a WMU student, I could ride the bus for free to get wherever.